Last week, Oregon fire danger concerns prompted power shutoff notices to be issued. Pacific Power notified 12,000 customers in five counties south and west of Portland of a potential public safety power shutoff. It was to take effect from early Friday through Saturday. Portland General Electric officials also talked about shutting off power in 10 areas because of the risk of fire. This move impacted about 30,000.
Oregon counties warned by Pacific Power were Linn, Douglas, Lincoln Marion and Polk. It was reported that the utility’s advanced weather modeling indicates a potential for dangerous fire weather conditions. Gov. Kate Brown was expected to address preparations for the dangerous fire conditions later Thursday.
Looking at it before the current news, a number of blazes were already burning in Oregon. The largest is the Double Creek Fire burning in a remote northeastern Oregon along the Idaho border. The Rum Creek Fire in southwest Oregon also threatened homes earlier in the week, but evacuation notices were reduced or eliminated Thursday as firefighters had contained almost half the 33-square-mile blaze.
A release sent out stated that the utility will closely monitor conditions and the forecast and will give four hours of notice before turning off power, it said. Forecasters warned Thursday that strong, gusting winds and low humidity will cause extreme fire danger across western Oregon and southwest Washington this weekend as authorities pleaded with residents to be aware of the dangers following an unseasonably hot and dry summer.
Some may remember that strong winds over Labor Day weekend in 2020 fueled Oregon wildfires that burned more than 1 million acres, destroyed 4,000 homes and killed at least 11 people across the western part of the state. This weekend’s winds were not expected to approach the speed and intensity of those in 2020, but forecasters said there was still a chance of “rapid fire spread.”
